


universe of stars (shining in your eyes)

by hwangje (sehyxn)



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, im such trash for 2hyun, jisung is mentioned, pls love these baby turtles, ymc needs to stop overworking wanna one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 06:31:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12030156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sehyxn/pseuds/hwangje
Summary: They can say what they want. They can curse all they want, too, but they’re not stopping him from seeing Minhyun. Not when he’s in the hospital and Jonghyun wants —needs— to make sure he's okay.





	universe of stars (shining in your eyes)

  
  


When Jonghyun receives the call from a worn out Jisung at two in the morning, it doesn’t come as a shock. Rather, it’s a dreadful confirmation of the fear that has been creeping up on him ever since Minhyun was announced as ninth place.

Later, when he replays the night’s events in his head, he will chide himself for not waking the other members up to visit Minhyun together. Right now, he cannot think that far ahead.

He moves as if on autopilot, grabbing his wallet and jamming his feet into his shoes, phone clutched tightly in his hand. He almost forgets his keys and has to double back to snatch them off the countertop, along with a cap that he slings low over his head, because the whole world does not need to know that Minhyun is in the hospital. Not yet at least. They will know soon enough; he's a member of Wanna One, after all. Perhaps they know already. Perhaps in the morning there will be articles about Minhyun’s collapse and subsequent hospitalisation, complete with Dispatch-style photos of NU'EST's Kim Jonghyun visiting him that will set forth a whole new wave of insults and death threats in his Instagram comments.

They can say what they want. They can curse all they want, too, but they’re not stopping him from seeing Minhyun. Not when he’s in the hospital and Jonghyun wants — _needs_ — to make sure he's okay.

 

 

The nurses recognise him the moment he dashes through the hospital’s doors, some with muffled squeals of _it’s the nation’s leader!_ They know why he’s here; they tell him the room number before he even has to ask. He’s grateful because it means they won’t hear the panicked sobs spill forth from where he choked them down.

Then he opens the door and Minhyun is so, so thin Jonghyun almost reels. It had been obvious enough, but even all the high definition fancams he’d watched into the middle of the night had not been enough to prepare him for how gaunt Minhyun looks in the flesh. How did he become like this in just a month? If he thought Minhyun looked like a fae before, the resemblance is even more apparent now. Delicate limbs and slender frame and looking like they’ll shatter if Jonghyun so much as touches him.

“Minhyun-ah,” Jonghyun whispers, cursing himself for the way his voice trembles because this is not the time for him to be weak, Minhyun needs him, “how are you feeling?”

Minhyun’s eyes light up the moment he sees Jonghyun, despite the dark circles clinging to them and the evident exhaustion written on his face. He smiles weakly up at him, and Jonghyun barely manages to take tiny, tentative steps forward, legs feeling like they'll give out on him at any moment.

“I’m okay,” Minhyun says, reaching out for Jonghyun’s hand as he draws closer and sits down. Jonghyun looks at him skeptically and Minhyun laughs, the gentle, tinkling laugh that Jonghyun loved hearing every day. The laugh that Jonghyun misses so, so much. “Really, Jonghyun, I’m okay,” he reassures, thumb brushing back and forth over Jonghyun’s hand, soothingly. Jonghyun briefly wonders why the patient is comforting the visitor instead of the other way around and if maybe he’s the one who ought to be in the hospital for his aching heart.

His lips curl into a pout as he covers Minhyun’s hand with his own, bringing it up to his lips and letting his breath skim over pale skin. “You’re not,” he says into Minhyun’s slender fingers, staring into the blankets sulkily. “You look like you haven’t gotten any sleep in months. Do they even have hearts? How can they overwork you like this, I know you guys are the hottest thing right now but-” he chokes on his words and has to pause to swallow it down, “you’re only human, Minhyun, you don’t deserve to go through all this."

He doesn’t realise the tears have collected in the corners of his eyes until he feels the soft pads of Minhyun's fingers brushing them away. Minhyun murmurs something weakly, too soft for Jonghyun to hear. “Hmm?” he prompts, as he leans closer. Minhyun lowers his hand, slipping his fingers back between his, their hands slotting perfectly together like they always have.

“I think I’m glad you aren’t in Wanna One,” Minhyun murmurs, voice barely more than a weak rasp. And Jonghyun’s heart clenches because this is his Minhyun, the Minhyun that cried when none of the other NU'EST members made it in, the Minhyun that still texts him whenever he manages to coax a phone out of a staff member just to say _I wish you were here with me._

The Minhyun who hasn’t stopped missing him ever since they were broken apart.

Jonghyun surges forward, envelops Minhyun in a gentle hug, arms wrapping around his slight frame and pulling him close. He strokes Minhyun’s hair with his other hand, fingers carding through the soft strands.

It’s not like him to be this emotional, this reckless, but it’s also not like Minhyun to be— no, it _is_ exactly like Minhyun to be this self-sacrificial, and sometimes Jonghyun thinks he almost hates him for it. Almost, because Jonghyun can never truly hate Minhyun, not when his smile makes Jonghyun want to collect every drop of happiness in the world and give it to him just so he never has a reason to lose it.

Minhyun indulges him, like he always does. Sinks into Jonghyun’s embrace and wraps his other arm around his waist, snuggling close. His fingers tighten around Jonghyun’s, and it feels like coming home.

 

 

When they finally let go of each other and shake out the cramps in their muscles, it’s almost four am and they both know it’s time for Jonghyun to leave.

“I’ll be okay,” Minhyun reassures, ruffling Jonghyun’s hair affectionately. “I know how to take care of myself.”

Jonghyun scowls. “You call this taking care of yourself?”

Minhyun lets out a sheepish laugh, eyes crinkling in the way that makes them shine with a universe’s worth of stars.

“I have a whole bunch of kids to look after now, remember? I can’t take care of others if I don’t know how to take care of myself first,” Minhyun points out, voice teasing yet gentle. “I know my limits, Jonghyun. Don’t worry. I’ll be more careful next time."

Jonghyun sighs, resignedly, knowing nothing he says or does can change anything. It doesn’t stop him from worrying, but he also knows that this is not his battle to fight. He will have to count on the other Wanna One members, on Jisung especially, to fill in where he cannot.

"Alright,” he concedes, reluctantly. “Promise me you won’t push yourself too hard?”

Minhyun smiles, tapping Jonghyun's nose playfully. “I'll promise if you will, too.”

It’s such a Minhyun thing to do that it makes Jonghyun laugh, despite the tubes hooked up to pale skin and the oppressive smell of hospital disinfectants. He leans close to pat Minhyun on the head. “I promise, so you’d better not collapse again, okay?”

Minhyun hums in agreement, then says, “Be careful on the way home.”

“Mm. Take care too, yeah?"

As he stands to leave, Minhyun latches onto his wrist, tugging gently. Jonghyun turns, looking at him quizzically. Minhyun doesn’t meet his gaze, staring intently at his blankets instead.

"Can I kiss you?” Minhyun murmurs, the tips of his ears a bright red.

Jonghyun doesn’t respond, just slips his hand into Minhyun’s, then reaches out to cup Minhyun’s neck and pull him in for a soft, chaste kiss. It’s short, like the kisses they steal in waiting rooms and under staircases, both of them very aware of the risk that a nurse could walk in any moment and they’d both be ruined.

It’s short, but in this moment, it is enough.

Jonghyun pulls away with a delicate sweetness lingering on his lips, and he doesn’t want to leave, doesn’t think he can bear saying goodbye to Minhyun when he looks this frail. But he knows he cannot be here when the sun rises. He won't let Wanna One’s manager or the sasaeng fans catch him here and scold Minhyun for it.

It’s the only way he can protect Minhyun now, and as much as it hurts, Jonghyun knows he has to do it.

Gently, he untangles his fingers from Minhyun’s, tries not to look at Minhyun’s mournful eyes. He pulls the blankets up around Minhyun, tucking them in as he used to do back at the NU'EST dorms, when Minhyun would fall sick and pout for chicken porridge and his Jonghyun-ie.

“Take care, alright?” Jonghyun says, stroking Minhyun’s hair. Minhyun nods, finally placated, and Jonghyun turns to leave.

Minhyun speaks up right as he reaches the door. “I really missed you,” he whispers, voice thick not with tears, but with something Jonghyun can’t quite place. Perhaps it is longing, or relief. Regardless, Jonghyun hears the unspoken words. He smiles.

“I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> many thanks to [tgtfaf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tgtfaf) for beta-ing!!
> 
> wow i've stanned both nu'est and hotshot since debut and i'm so glad people are finally paying attention to them (esp minhyun my bby) but seriously,,, ymc,,, stop overworking ur idols  
> also i love 2hyun
> 
> anyway thank u for reading!! u can hmu [@berryhyuns](https://twitter.com/berryhyuns) on twitter c':


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